ABSTRACT

Six flour blends of different proportions were prepared from malted maize, unmalted maize and wheat (Triticum aestivum) as samples 101(20% malted maize flour and 80% wheat flour), 102(10% malted maize flour and 90% wheat flour), 103(5% malted maize flour and 95% wheat flour), 104(20% unmalted maize flour and 80% wheat flour), 105(10% unmalted maize flour and 90% wheat flour), 106(5% unmalted maize flour and 95% wheat flour), 107(100% wheat flour). The different samples of the flour blends were used to produce bread. The bread samples produced were evaluated for proximate compositions, physical properties, microbial properties and sensory compositions. The result of the proximate composition ranged from 7.80% to 8.75% moisture content, 2.43% to 3.61% ash,2.82% to 3.5 1% crude fibre,12.40% to 14.54% fat, 8.50% to 11.65% protein and 61.10% to 64.17% carbohydrate. The result obtained from physical properties analysis ranged from 12.35cm to 13.65cm length, 5.60cm to 8.15cm height, 7.10cm to 7.12cm width, 137.46g to 151.36g weight, and 660cm3to 900.50cm3loaf volume and 4.36cm3/g to 6.55cm3/g specific volume. The result of the microbial analysis showed that sample 104 (20% unmalted maize flour and 80% wheat flour) had a value of 10¹ from day 0 to day 4, showing that it is more resistant to both bacterial and fungal effects. The result of the sensory evaluation showed that sample 102(10% malted maize flour and 90% wheat flour) with a rating of 7.60 was generally most preferred by the panelists followed by sample 103 (5% malted maize flour and 95% wheat flour) which can favourably compete with sample 107 (100% wheat flour) in terms of consumer acceptability.